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Tournaments  | Story  | 10/7/2022

Top Tier 5 Star Grabs Control of Pool R

Blake Dowson     
Photo: Aidan Miller (Perfect Game)
JUPITER, Fla. – It isn’t always pretty at the WWBA World Championship, and the Top Tier/5 Star joint venture team will tell you that so far, it hasn’t been for them.

But after a 3-0 victory over a Richmond Braves 18u Platinum squad that up to this point was leading the pool, here they are, right in the thick of things and now possessing a clear path to the playoff bracket.



After a 4-4 tie on opening day in Jupiter against Hawaii Elite 2G, Top Tier 5 Star Roos Mafia came into its matchup against the Richmond Braves needing a win, both to get in the win column themselves and to keep the Braves from notching their second pool play victory.

On top of that, a shutout victory when runs allowed is high up on the tiebreaker scenario was crucial.

“We needed this,” coach Jeremy Neyra said after the game. “We needed it to advance. Hopefully we can win the pool and get past that tie we had yesterday.”

If this Top Tier/5 Star joint roster does make the bracket, it’s a team that no one will want to face. It’s loaded with a number of Perfect Game All-Americans and PG National participants.

Ariel Antigua, the No. 108 overall prospect in the 2023 class, led off for the team today. He was followed by Drew Burress, the No. 24 overall prospect in the class, and then Aidan Miller, the No. 7 overall prospect. Burress and Miller were both in Phoenix this summer as PG All-Americans, and there are five total All-Americans on the roster.

AJ Ewing hit fourth, he’s a top-75 overall prospect in the class. Wesley Mendes, one of the top two-way prospects in the class and ranked as the No. 8 left-handed pitching prospect, hit sixth. Riley Jackson hit eighth and was the extra-hitter, while Landen Maroudis, another two-way star, hit ninth. Each prospect mentioned was at the PG National Showcase in July.

The talent is there to make a deep run, certainly. The timing hasn’t been yet, but that’s something Neyra sees coming.

“[We need] timely hits,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of baserunners, but we haven’t put up a lot of runs this tournament. We’ve had some opportunities. Hopefully we’re saving them for later.”

This is a team put together specifically to try to make a deep run into the playoffs here. Both Top Tier and 5 Star have had their fair share of success on their own, and the partnership makes their lineup extremely long and tough to work through.

It was apparent against the Richmond Braves, who ran out several talented pitchers who had good stuff working. The approach at the plate for Top Tier/5 Star was relentless, though, working seven walks, which resulted in the first run of the game when Mendes took ball four to start the inning and later came around to score on an RBI groundout to first base off the bat of Jackson.

Grinding out at-bats is a good start, and the hits will start to back those up. And then, watch out. This team has all the firepower necessary to play into Monday, with plenty of pitching left in the tank to do it.

Maroudis hasn’t thrown yet, and neither has Liam Peterson, the No. 4 righty in the class. With Lance Williams scheduled to pitch the final pool play game against Banditos Scout Team, it seems like they are being saved for bracket play. Anderson Nance threw only 12 pitches in today’s contest, so he has bullets left moving forward.

That depth is a luxury in Jupiter.

“We thought the best chance to make a deep run in this tournament was combining forces and see what happens,” Neyra said. “It’s been a good experience so far.”
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